Are you ready to move beyond basic AI assistance and transform how you work? Whether you are drafting emails, automating tasks, or exploring new ways to collaborate, Copilot Agents are changing the game for business users. If you have heard the buzz but are not sure how agents fit into your workflow—or how to get started—this guide is for you! Let us demystify Copilot Agents and discover how they can help you work smarter, not harder.
What are Copilot Agents?
Copilot Agents are AI powered assistants that work specifically with a set of defined datasets. They can retrieve information, perform tasks, and work alongside you or work by themselves.
Agents can be grouped into three categories.
- Retrieval Agents– Agents that access certain data. These are the simplest type of Agents, like a chatbot. Within this data accessed, these Agents can perform reasoning, summarization, and answer user questions.
- Task Oriented Agents – Agents that act based on what you are asking for. These Agents can automate workflows and replace repetitive tasks.
- Autonomous agents – Agents that work independently. These Agents can be built to perform multi-step actions without being prompted by you and can also work with other Agents. Autonomous Agents wait for a trigger or some type of work event, such as “receiving an email.” When that trigger happens, the Agent knows what to do, where to find the answers, and can act based on your set of instructions.
Prebuilt Agents
Now that you understand what Agents are – where can you get the Agents? Luckily, Microsoft provides some pre-built Agents to get users started.
When you open Microsoft Copilot Chat, you’ll notice a list of “All Agents” on the side menu. This is a list of Microsoft and third-party provided Agents. These agents are built for the business users who want to leverage Agents without ha
ving to build their own Agent. How can you leverage these agents? Let’s explore two of these prebuilt Agents.
- Researcher Agent– This Agent gives you access to a deep-thinking research assistant. It will help you perform extensive research with the information sources you provide and will develop an in-depth research report to summarize all the information for you. Simply give it a prompt with a clear goal and set of expectations and it can do the research for you!
- Analyzer Agent – This prebuilt Agent will unlock powerful analytic and deep reasoning data analysis just like a data scientist. You can upload spreadsheets and other data, and it will perform powerful analysis on your data – like crunching numbers!
Inside Microsoft SharePoint, there are additional prebuilt Agents. These can be powerful, digital tools because they can leverage the information that is stored specifically in that SharePoint site. These prebuilt SharePoint Agents can be automatically created when you create a new site if certain technical requirements are met.
Microsoft is also building Agents into all its M365 applications, such as Agents for Teams channels, Agents in Microsoft Planner, and more.
Who can build Agents?
If these prebuilt Agents are not specific enough for you – you build your own custom Agents! Microsoft, with the help of AI and large language models, are making it easier for everyday users, who do not have a technical or developer background, to create their own Agents to streamline their work. Microsoft provides predefined templates that already contain preconfigured options and rules to help get you started but you also have the option to create your own options and rules for your Agent. These Agents can be created and managed within SharePoint and Copilot Chat.
In Copilot Chat, you can create simple Agents to answer questions or perform simple tasks. For example, you could create an HR Agent that could answer employee questions about HR benefits and policies. During the creation of the Agent, you would direct the Agent to look at your internal HR policies as the information source. This ensures that even as you update the HR policies, the Agent would relay the most up to date information to employees.
Within SharePoint, in addition to the prebuilt Agents mentioned above, you can also create custom Agents. These custom Agents can help leverage the resources in that SharePoint site to quickly find necessary information or even automate tasks. Imagine that you have a SharePoint library full of product information and your Sales reps are having to spend time searching through it when looking for product information. To help speed up this task, you could build an Agent to assist Sales reps to go find the information quicker and allow the Sales rep to perform additional tasks.
What tools do you use to build the Agents?
There are two tools to help you build Agents. Copilot Studio for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and the Agent tool in SharePoint for SharePoint Agents.
- Copilot Studio is built for business users and developers who want to create advanced Agents. Both can leverage your prompts through an intuitive interface that guides you step-by-step—from building the Agent and linking data sources to customizing responses for end users.
- Agent tool in SharePoint is purpose-built to help you organize information, automate processes, and maintain content—all within the boundaries of a specific SharePoint site. It’s a smart way to bring structure and efficiency to your internal operations
The good news is that both tools have similar interfaces to make it easier for you to start creating!
Let’s Get to Work
Now that you understand what Copilot Agents are and how easy it is to get started, it’s time to put them to work for you. Explore the prebuilt Agents in Copilot Chat and SharePoint or try building your own with Copilot Studio. Whether you want to automate repetitive tasks, streamline information retrieval, or empower your team with custom solutions, Copilot Agents can help you achieve more with less effort.
If you are curious about how Agents can transform your daily work or want hands-on guidance just get in touch, and let Savvy Technical Solutions explore the possibilities with you!
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